What's been going on

This is the beautiful view of Kenskoff, Haiti, as we left the Haiti Baptist Mission to go to Fort Jack.  The countryside is amazingly beautiful!  Terraced mountain sides and cooler temperatures, along with great fellowship with friends, made for a wonderful day!

We were welcomed at Fort Jack by two guides that explained quite a bit of the history of Haiti and the fort as we walked along.  As we stood on the top of Fort Jack, we could see all of Port-au-Prince.  It was amazing how small the airport looked from this perspective!!  We were so happy that Linda agreed to come along.  She had never been to Fort Jack, and she was very happy to be able to see this piece of her country's history.

Our first ten families have had their chicks for three weeks now, and they have doubled in size.  In just three more weeks, the work of selling these birds begins.  We are praying that every chicken will be sold for at least $5 US.  We have been encouraged by how well the families follow the direction of Christian, the agronomist that is teaching them how to raise chickens for meat.  The families' lives are wrapped up in this new business, and our prayer is that it is a huge blessing for each family!

Fourteen new families will begin this chicken venture in a few weeks.  The chicken houses are being built as I write this.  We saw this huge bee hive as we walked around to one property.  Kevin actually walked under it! 

I think this is a tree full of gold finch nests.  Anyway, it is a beautiful yellow chested bird.  They sounded so loud as we visited another family that is getting a chicken house, but not near as loud as the 2,000 baby chicks that we distributed three weeks ago.  Haiti is full of beauty!!

We have almost all of Ashley's school curriculum for this year.  We don't feel the pull of being behind, because the kids here have not gone back to school yet.  Most of them start October 1.  Ashley has a lot of reading to do this year!  She is using the Heart of Dakota curriculum, Missions to Modern Marvels.  She is excited to start on Monday!

Lauren is using Apologia Science Anatomy and Physiology, Notgrass Company Government, Economics in a Box, and the One Year Adventure Novel for writing.  They are both doing Quest for Bible and Life of Fred for Math.  They are happy to have different books throughout the year, instead of the same textbook for the whole year. 

Like a mirror

Yesterday in my advanced English class, we were reading about how the Law cannot save us.  That the only way to be saved is through the blood of Jesus Christ.  One of my students said that the Law is like a mirror.  If we look in the mirror, we can see that our face is dirty, but that doesn't clean it for us.  The mirror shows us what needs to be cleaned.  So, too, the Law shows us our sin.  It doesn't clean it for us, it just shows us what needs to be confessed and repented of.  I love this illustration!  I love teaching this advanced English class!  All of the students our so excited to learn English.  Please pray for everyone in my classes.  We are going through the Roman Road to Salvation, so I am praying that if anyone has not yet accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior, that they will see the need and believe.

New Life in Christ

After church today, I just happened to walk down to the front where Eric was talking with some young women.  When I arrived, Eric and DjoDjo, and elder, were praying over them.  As they were praying, I noticed that they were asking for the Lord to give these women wisdom, to help them grow in the Lord, to protect them, and to provide what they need.  Afterwards, Eric let me know that all three of the young ladies had chosen to follow Christ as their Lord.  I was so happy!  One of them started coming to my English class last week, and we brought her to church this morning.

Eric talked with me a little later about his concern for these three women.  They are very young, and have no other Christians in their homes.  He has asked two older women in the church to talk with them so that they can continue to grow in Christ, and not become like the seed that fell on the rocks.  The seed that fell on the rocks is like people who hear and believe, but when troubles come, they fall away, and their faith dies.  Our desire is for these three women to be like the seed that  falls in good soil.  The seed that falls in good soil, is like people that hear the Word of God, believe, and grow in the faith to produce fruit, good works. 

Believing the Lord came to this earth as God's Son, that He died so that His blood could cover our sins, that He is at the right hand of the father in Heaven, and that He will come back to take His followers home, is a great start!  But now we need these women to see how to make Christ the true Lord of their life, that their life is no longer their own, that they were bought at a price, and that means that their entire focus in life is changed.  They are a new creation, created to do good works for God's pleasure.  They need to read the Bible in order to understand what is pleasing to the Lord.  They need to continue to meet with other believers. 

Please pray that these three women, as well as all new converts to Christ, will grow in knowledge and wisdom in the Lord!!

Ashley and I held deaf church this morning.  We played the Christian video called Doctor Wonder's Workshop, which is completely in sign language.  It has stories about Christian character and Bible stories.  The deaf children are learning not only new signs in sign language, but also more about God and His Word!